<p>Three UN peacekeepers have been killed by unidentified combatants in the Central African Republic, the United Nations said, as the country prepares for a general election and fighting continues between rebels and government forces.</p>.<p>The news came after a rebel coalition called off a ceasefire and said it would resume its march on the capital and following the arrival of troops from Russia and Rwanda to shore up the government of the resource-rich country.</p>.<p>"Three peacekeepers from Burundi were killed and two others were wounded" following attacks on UN troops and Central African national defense and security forces, the UN said in a statement Friday.</p>.<p>The assaults took place in Dekoa, central Kemo Prefecture, and in Bakouma, in the southern Mbomou Prefecture, it said, without providing further details.</p>.<p>Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, strongly condemned the latest incident, and called on the CAR authorities to investigate the "heinous" assaults.</p>.<p>He also warned that "attacks against United Nations peacekeepers may constitute a war crime."</p>.<p>Ahead of the polls, 63-year-old incumbent President Faustin Archange Touadera has accused his predecessor Francois Bozize of plotting a coup.</p>.<p>Bozize -- who is under UN sanctions and barred from running -- denies the charges.</p>.<p>On Tuesday a militia briefly seized the country's fourth-biggest town, before it was retaken by security forces backed by UN peacekeepers.</p>.<p>Rebel groups launched an offensive a week ago threatening to march on the capital Bangui, in what the government described as an attempted coup, but their progress was halted with international help.</p>.<p>However, a three-day ceasefire brokered ahead of the elections fell apart Friday with the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) announcing that it would resume its push for the capital.</p>.<p>The CPC -- whose components are drawn from militia groups that, together, control two-thirds of the country -- was created on December 19 by armed groups who accused Touadera of trying to fix the vote.</p>.<p>Clashes resumed on Friday in Bakouma, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) northeast of Bangui, according to Vladimir Monteiro, spokesman for the UN's MINUSCA peacekeeping force.</p>.<p>MINUSCA said Thursday that a 300-strong contingent of Rwandan reinforcements had arrived in the country.</p>.<p>Russia, which recently signed a military cooperation agreement with Touadera's government, has also sent at least 300 military instructors to bolster the CAR's forces ahead of the polls.</p>.<p>Sunday's elections are deemed a key test of CAR's ability to recover stability.</p>.<p>But a crucial question is whether turnout will be badly affected by violence or intimidation, denting the credibility of the next president and the 140-seat legislature.</p>.<p>Mineral-rich but rated the world's second-poorest country on the Human Development Index, the CAR has been chronically unstable since independence 60 years ago.</p>
<p>Three UN peacekeepers have been killed by unidentified combatants in the Central African Republic, the United Nations said, as the country prepares for a general election and fighting continues between rebels and government forces.</p>.<p>The news came after a rebel coalition called off a ceasefire and said it would resume its march on the capital and following the arrival of troops from Russia and Rwanda to shore up the government of the resource-rich country.</p>.<p>"Three peacekeepers from Burundi were killed and two others were wounded" following attacks on UN troops and Central African national defense and security forces, the UN said in a statement Friday.</p>.<p>The assaults took place in Dekoa, central Kemo Prefecture, and in Bakouma, in the southern Mbomou Prefecture, it said, without providing further details.</p>.<p>Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, strongly condemned the latest incident, and called on the CAR authorities to investigate the "heinous" assaults.</p>.<p>He also warned that "attacks against United Nations peacekeepers may constitute a war crime."</p>.<p>Ahead of the polls, 63-year-old incumbent President Faustin Archange Touadera has accused his predecessor Francois Bozize of plotting a coup.</p>.<p>Bozize -- who is under UN sanctions and barred from running -- denies the charges.</p>.<p>On Tuesday a militia briefly seized the country's fourth-biggest town, before it was retaken by security forces backed by UN peacekeepers.</p>.<p>Rebel groups launched an offensive a week ago threatening to march on the capital Bangui, in what the government described as an attempted coup, but their progress was halted with international help.</p>.<p>However, a three-day ceasefire brokered ahead of the elections fell apart Friday with the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) announcing that it would resume its push for the capital.</p>.<p>The CPC -- whose components are drawn from militia groups that, together, control two-thirds of the country -- was created on December 19 by armed groups who accused Touadera of trying to fix the vote.</p>.<p>Clashes resumed on Friday in Bakouma, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) northeast of Bangui, according to Vladimir Monteiro, spokesman for the UN's MINUSCA peacekeeping force.</p>.<p>MINUSCA said Thursday that a 300-strong contingent of Rwandan reinforcements had arrived in the country.</p>.<p>Russia, which recently signed a military cooperation agreement with Touadera's government, has also sent at least 300 military instructors to bolster the CAR's forces ahead of the polls.</p>.<p>Sunday's elections are deemed a key test of CAR's ability to recover stability.</p>.<p>But a crucial question is whether turnout will be badly affected by violence or intimidation, denting the credibility of the next president and the 140-seat legislature.</p>.<p>Mineral-rich but rated the world's second-poorest country on the Human Development Index, the CAR has been chronically unstable since independence 60 years ago.</p>